Annisa Essack | kzn@radioislam.org.za
11 July 2023 | 09:45 CAT
2 min read

Photo Credit: IOL

A faceless serial killer began stalking children on the Cape Flats in 1986 and became known as the Station Strangler. By 1994, 22 young boys had been found dead, sodomised and strangled.

The following year, in 1995, Norman Afzal Simons, a schoolteacher, was convicted of the murder of ten-year-old Elroy van Rooyen, the last victim in the string of child murders, solidifying him in the public’s imagination as the Station Strangler.

Despite being eligible for parole twenty-eight years later, Simons remains behind bars. He was never charged with any other killings, and other suspects were found or linked to the killings.

In 2010, police re-opened the cold case and re-investigated DNA samples from the crime scenes. None of the DNA found matched Simons.

According to a “Daily Voice” source, it was revealed that Simons had been granted parole and would be released on July 20 after meetings were called with Mitchells Plain police and several community organisations by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) last week to discuss the details of his release.

In just ten days, the notorious Station Strangler, Norman “Afzal” Simons, is set to be released in Cape Town after spending nearly three decades behind bars.

Last year, SA Human Rights Commissioner Chris Nissen called for Simons to be released, saying he had done his time.

Insiders have added that Simons will not return to his home in Mitchells Plain but will live in Parow with his family. But Parow Ward Councillor Francesca Walker said she was unaware of the arrangement or impending release.

Walker added that she would be engaging with the station commander and community police forum, as well as other community structures, to hear if they were informed. She noted that the Parow community had the right to know and should be consulted.